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MAY 11: GRANT PREPARES FOR THE GRAND ASSAULT
During the morning of May 11, Grant matured his plans. He decided to
spear-head the attack with the Second Corps and ordered Hancock to the
Brown house, where Mort had launched his charge on the tenth. From
there, Hancock was to assault the Confederate salient's tip shortly
before daylight on the twelfth. At the same time, Burnside was to attack
the salient's eastern leg, and Warren and Wright were to keep the
Confederates on Laurel Hill pinned in place. One of Meade's aides
summarized the scheme as a "repetition of Mott's attack on the 10th, on a
much larger scale in every way."
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MAJOR GENERAL HORATIO G. WRIGHT COMMAND OF THE UNION SIXTH CORPS
SEDGWICK'S DEATH ON MAY 9.
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As the day progressed, Lee received intelligence that Grant might be
planning to retire toward Fredericksburg. The Confederate commander
wanted to be ready to strike immediately and directed his corps
commanders to prepare to march on short notice. He was concerned,
however, that artillery in the salient might have difficulty pulling out
and hence slow the army's response. According to one of Lee's aides,
"orders were given to withdraw the artillery from the salient occupied
by Major General Edward "Allegheny" Johnson's division to have it
available for a countermove to the right." Little did Lee suspect that
he was weakening the very place that Grant intended to attack.
In the afternoon, rain began falling in torrents. "The wind was
raw and sharp," a Federal wrote, "our clothing wet, and we were just
about as disconsolate and miserable a set of men as were ever
seen."
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In the afternoon, rain began falling in torrents. "The wind was raw
and sharp," a Federal wrote, "our clothing wet, and we were just about
as disconsolate and miserable a set of men as were ever seen."
After dark, Hancock's corps began shifting to the Brown house. The
march was a miserable affair. Soldiers sloshed behind one another and
tried to follow their file leader "not by sight or touch, but by hearing
him growl and swear, as he slipped, splashed, and tried to pull his
'pontoons' out of the mud." The situation at the Brown house was
discouraging. No one seemed to know where the Confederates were or how
their line was oriented. Barlow, whose division was to lead the assault,
inquired, "What is the nature of the ground over which I have to pass?"
He was told, "We do not know." He asked, "What obstructions am I to
meet, if any?" only to be told, "We do not know." Exasperated, he
demanded, "Have I a gulch a thousand feet deep to cross?" The answer
came back. "We do not know." According to one account, an officer drew
a rough map on the Brown house wall to show Hancock how to face his
troops.
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WINFIELD HANCOCK (SEATED) AND HIS DIVISION COMMANDERS FRANCIS BARLOW,
DAVID BIRNEY, AND JOHN GIBBON. (LC)
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Lee's pickets heard sounds—a "subdued roar or noise, plainly
audible in the still, heavy night air like distant falling water or
machinery"—but were uncertain whether the Federals were leaving or
preparing to attack.
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The Second Corps assembled behind Mott's pickets along a compass line
drawn from the Brown place to the McCoull house. Barlow's division
packed tightly into two lines, Birney on Barlow's right, Mott and Gibbon
behind. "We thus formed a huge sledge hammer," one of Barlow's officers
explained, "of which our division was the head and Birney's the handle,"
with the remainder of the corps in support. Across the way, Lee's
pickets heard sounds—a "subdued roar or noise, plainly audible in
the still, heavy night air like distant falling water or
machinery"—but were uncertain whether the Federals were leaving or
preparing to attack. By midnight, "Allegheny" Johnson, whose division
occupied the tip of the salient, concluded that mischief was afoot and
dispatched an aide to Ewell asking that the artillery be returned. Ewell
rebuffed the staffer, so Johnson visited Ewell himself. The corps
commander was persuaded by Johnson's entreaties and ordered the guns
returned. His instructions, however, were inexplicably delayed and
failed to reach the artillerists until 3:30 A.M. Rebel gunners ran to
their horses and began hauling their pieces through mud toward the
salient.
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AS UNION SOLDIERS SWARMED OVER THE LOGWORKS, EDWARD JOHNSON (ABOVE)
SWUNG AT THEM WITH HIS WALKING STICK UNTIL HE WAS SURROUNDED AND FORCED
TO SURRENDER. (NA)
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Four o'clock arrived. It was still pitch black, so Hancock postponed
the assault for another half hour. A soldier recalled that the men,
"surrounded by the silence of night, by darkness and fog, stood listening
to the raindrops as they fell from leaf to leaf." At 4:30, the rain
stopped and was replaced by a swirling, clinging mist. "Forward!" came
the command, and twenty thousand blue-clad soldiers heaved forward.
Over the Rebel picket line they pushed and onto a shallow ridge. The
sight ahead was daunting. "The red earth of a well defined line of works
loomed up through the mists on the crest of another ridge, distant about
two hundred yards with a shallow ravine between," a Northerner
recounted. Scarcely pausing, they dashed into the ravine and up the far
side, clawing through abatis. "All line and formation was now lost," a
participant recalled, "and the great mass of men, with a rush like a
cyclone, sprang upon the entrenchments and swarmed over."
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IN A MATTER OF MINUTES, HANCOCK'S CORPS OVERPOWERED JOHNSON'S DIVISION
AND HAD GAINED THE SALIENT'S OUTER WORKS. THREE THOUSAND CONFEDERATE
PRISONERS AND TWENTY GUNS FELL INTO UNION HANDS. (COURTESY OF THE
SEVENTH REGIMENT FUND, INC.)
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